Region Variants
]] Biome Variants are a feature of the mod that enable greater variation in biome generation without the need to create many similar variations of each base biome. They are generated as a second layer over the biomes themselves, and can alter terrain features of that biome, most notably height, hilliness, tree coverage, tree types, and grass coverage. The types of biome variants that can generate in a biome are defined for each biome in the code. Normal biomes get the generic biome variants and combinations of the oak forest/spruce forest variants, Oak wood type biomes do not have spruce-including variants, Spruce wood type biomes do not have oak variants, forest biomes have clearings and hills, and swamps are different all together. Variants cannot mix or overlap; that is to say, there is only one layer of variants on top of the base biomes. In Middle-earth, the current biome variant is shown in the F3 debug screen on the left-hand side along with other biome information. A complete list of biome variants follows. Note that no biome has all of these, and some, such as Mordor, have none. For biome variants that do not occur in a significant number of Middle-earth's biomes, a list of biomes is added to show where these can generate. Standard variants These variants appear in a wide range of different biomes. Forested variants These variants add new tree types in addition to changing the biome's properties. In many cases the forest floors are a patchwork of grassy meadows, and barren dirt. Dense forests Dead forests Single tree type dominant forests Orchard variants These relatively small biomes represent the cultivated fruit orchards of Middle-earth. The following varaints are defined: Exclusive variants These biome variants are only found in specific biomes or specific types of biomes. As mentioned above, both the Drúwaith Iaur and Ithilien are home to an exclusive dense forest variant and the Shire and Near Harad Fertile are home to an exclusive orchard variant. Other notable features The terrain generation for the Mod's biomes differs in many respects from that of Vanilla Minecraft. Here are a few notable features that may strike the eye when you're travelling Middle-earth: * The soil has patches of barren dirt, and . The variety of which is dependent on the biome variant. * Forested biomes and biome variants have fallen leaves on the ground to give the impression of leaf litter. * The occurrence of clay deposits is more randomised and less clustered (as it is in Vanilla MC). * Vegetation is much richer. Some biomes and variants have special, or even unique flowers and, while many biomes and their variants share a large number of types of common vegetation. * Many trees and tree variants are added in comparison to Vanilla MC. Some are widespread, some are unique to specific biomes. * The wildlife is equally enriched. Some biomes have unique wildlife, while many have a lot of very common animals such as birds and butterflies. * Apart from the numerous structures created as faction or biome specific builds, there are also a number of structures that generate randomly in a great number of biomes, independent of the biome variants. These are: orc dungeons, stone ruins and, as of , a fair number of various smaller stone ruins. * Quite a few biomes have unique rock types, like Rohan and the Red Mountains giving these biomes a unique look and feel. * The Mod also uses customised code to spawn caves and ravines. You will certainly notice this as travelling greater distances. Lava lakes are generally not present on higher altitudes, except in a few biomes, like Mordor and the Far Harad Volcano biome. * Finally, the terrain generation is far more realistic, and more suitable for a Middle-earth themed Mod, than that of Vanilla Minecraft. Trivia The anglo-saxon lagu-rune ᛚ (= letter L) means "lake". Tolkien used those ᚱᚢᚾᛖᛋ for some texts in the initial drafts of "The Lord of the Rings", later on, he replaced them by cirth runes. Category:Biomes Category:Gameplay Category:Environment